The assignee of this invention is presently in the process of changing its manufacturing facilities to what has become known as the (PWAF) "Plant With A Future". Such facilities are being equipped with machining cells that are automatically controlled and operated, requiring little or no manual attention of a machine operator. It has, therefore, become a problem with all machining operations to modify or to change them to automatic adjustment means and/or readily changeable fixtures or tooling to accommodate various and different components being manufactured on the same machines.
The fabricating facilities are equipped with numerous metal forming equipment, some of which are commonly referred to as press brakes. Such machines have elongated male punches powered by hydraulic rams which press against a sheet of metal, in most cases steel, against a set of spaced jaws of a female die forming an opening below the male punch. As the punch engages the plate against the opening between the jaws, the plate is formed into an angular shape as prescribed by the component to be produced. These machines are quite large in size, some having dies in the eight to twelve feet length capable of withstanding forces of a press having a 2,000 ton capacity. The plate being formed is frequently one-half to one inch in thickness requiring considerable force and dies capable of withstanding such force.
Past female die equipment has had jaws that are adjustable, being movable toward and away from each other to create an opening suitable for the reception of the male punch to provide the required shape. In such equipment, the dies were supported on a die frame and attached thereto in guide means that were loosened and manually forced to a new position and then manually changing shims between the jaws and the frame to positively locate the jaws in such location. As can be appreciated, this is a time consuming operation requiring an operator or operators to make such changes which is not readily adaptable to an automatic machining operation.
Adjustment means as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,890, issued to Russell S. Thatcher, is shown wherein a ratchet type mechanism is used to locate the dies or jaws of the die in a prescribed location. Although such system has merit, it would only be adaptable to lighter press work and such locating means would not be sufficiently strong enough to positively hold the dies in the heavier punching operations. U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,858, issued to Harper, U.S. Pat. No. 3,223,348 issued to Pearson, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,456,749 issued to Steibel, disclose a female die which is a one piece construction with various shapes cut into the outer periphery of the die to provide different openings for forming of different types of components out of sheet metal. It is obvious from these systems that the material being worked would have to be thin in thickness and therefore would not be adaptable to the heavier work, although they are readily adjustable to the different shapes.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the problems as set forth above.